A FEMALE fire fighter nearly died in a house fire after the air pipe on her breathing apparatus disconnected.
Instead of breathing in oxygen, she ended up taking in toxic black smoke and nearly choked to death.
Quick-thinking colleagues spotted her in distress and pulled her out of the building on Richmond Road, Dublin.
She was then rushed by ambulance to the nearby Mater Hospital for treatment.
The incident, which happened about five minutes after the fire fighter entered the building after the force received a 999 call to the premises around 4am last Thursday week, July 2, is now being investigated by Dublin Fire Brigade.
It is the second such investigation in almost as many weeks by the force into injuries sustained by its fire-crew during call-outs.
One is under way into the force’s handling of the June 10 Portmarnock sewerage tragedy in which two men died.
While attempting to rescue Alan and Stephen Harris, who had been trying to clear a blockade in the sewerage system on the exclusive Drumnigh Wood Estate in north Co Dublin, three fire crew were injured.
A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said last night: ‘As part of standard operational procedures, Dublin Fire Brigade is conducting an investigation into this incident.
‘All matters relating to the incident will be duly dealt with within this framework.
‘We have nothing further to add on this incident.’
A spokesperson for Scott Safety – which makes the breathing apparatus Dublin Fire Brigade uses – said last night: ‘Scott Safety confirms that they are aware of the alleged incidents at Dublin Fire Brigade and will fully cooperate with the investigation team.
‘Our number one priority is and has always been the safety of the firefighters and all users of our equipment.
‘We are continuing to closely monitor this situation and will provide additional information as it becomes available.’
Thursday’s incident is the latest of a string of mishaps involving the force’s controversial breathing apparatus.
Last month, on June 16, there was another incident involving one of the force’s breathing apparatus (BA) system.
A fire fighter attending a 2am house fire in the Kilbarrack area of Dublin had to discard his BA after the air cylinder on his back dropped out of the back plate holding it in place.
Although user error was suspected, it dropped out because of a faulty couplet holding it in place.
The faulty BA set has now been sent away for repair.
Last September, a fireman was left gasping for air while fighting a blaze in a burning building when his breathing apparatus malfunctioned.
As the time, it was second incident in eight weeks this had happened.
And it followed on from an incident in January when the breathing apparatus of two other firemen stopped working during an operation to rescue eight people from a blazing building.
As at the time, at least another eight ‘catastrophic episodes of equipment failures’ had been reported to Dublin City Council chiefs in less than two years.
In September’s case, a fireman had reached the first landing in a derelict building opposite Coombe Hospital on Cork Street, in Dublin’s south inner city.
His crew, from Dolphins Barn station, had rushed to the 7.30pm fire fearing there might have been someone inside.
But as they began fighting the blaze inside, the breathing apparatus of one firefighter suddenly stopped working.
That and an earlier malfunction during a training exercise in Blanchardstown, were also investigated.
Since last September, DFB has made a number of improvements and taken on board a number of safety concerns raised by the Irish Fire and Emergency Service Association (IFESA)
The association launched a High Court action against Dublin City Council over the ‘regular failures’ of the Scott ACSFX BA apparatus and the case is ongoing.
The union has claimed not enough was being done to address their concerns about this equipment, which was introduced into the brigade in late 2011.
Shortly after the equipment was introduced, however, issues started to emerge.